RUSTON – There’s not a single moment where Eric Konkol believes his Louisiana Tech basketball team drifted off the tracks, but rather a reoccurring trend.

Rattling off five straight wins to open the 2017-18 season, including winning the Cancun Challenge Tournament, the Bulldogs turned the ball over just 50 times with 12 being the most against George Mason in Cancun. From the final minutes of their showdown in Tuscaloosa versus Alabama where it lost a game-long lead, Tech (9-6, 0-2) has surpassed 12 turnovers in seven of its last 10 games, providing the stumbling blocks for the team’s 4-6 stretch that includes consecutive losses against Stephen F. Austin and UL Lafayette at Thomas Assembly Center.

In its nine victories, Louisiana Tech averages 11 turnovers per game with a plus-margin of nearly three and in its six defeats, the mistakes go up to 15.8 per contest with a minus-2 turnover margin.

Louisiana Tech hit a season-high 20 giveaways its last time out in a 78-65 loss at Marshall Saturday to fall to 0-2 in Conference USA, the first time the Bulldogs have started league off with back-to-back losses since the 2011-12 season.

“The major differences between winning and losing has been our turnovers,” said Konkol, Tech men’s hoops coach, after the team’s practice Wednesday. “We’ve turned it over a lot more in our losses than we have in our wins. When you turn the basketball over it affects your defense.

“That’s hurt us. We’ve got to clean that up, we’ve got to take care of the basketball better than we have. I feel like if we do that, we’re going to be in good shape. I feel like our half-court defense has been strong, I feel like offensively when we’ve taken care of the basketball and gotten good shots, we’ve knocked them down. We just got to get more consistent and that comes with experience with some of the young guys on this team and some new roles for some of our older guys.”

Attrition has caused lineup changes and different roles for several players with sophomore guard Jalen Harris, a starter for most of the early season, asking for and being granted his release on Dec. 22. In 11 games, Harris averaged 15.3 points per game, second-highest on the team behind sophomore point guard Dequan Bracey at 15.7 points.

Bracey, the preseason All-C-USA selection, has battled a back injury and has played fewer minutes the last few games. While the point guard paces the team in scoring, he also amassed 49 turnovers, the second-most in the league.

“Anytime you have change for any reason and you have someone different in the lineup, you have change. You got to go through an adjustment period and go through a growing period,” Konkol said. “You got to get that experience together and that’s what we’re going through right now.

“We’ve got a next man up philosophy here and a mentality that every single person prepares every day. You’re not sure when your number is going to be called, when or how often, but you got to be ready. That’s what practice and preparation is all about. We feel like we’ve got some guys in this program that’s ready to step up and have been asked to do that.”

When asked about why Harris decided to transfer, Konkol said, “I think it’s a situation where a young man took a look at his situation and asked for his release, and we granted it. We wish him the best.”

Tech wrapped up the non-conference slate 9-4, a mark not up to the expectations of a squad which was picked preseason to finish third in Conference USA, nor its fans. The Bulldogs opened up C-USA play on a two-game road trip, falling to both Western Kentucky, 69-68, and Marshall, two teams picked behind them in the preseason poll.

Despite the less than ideal start, Konkol said if the team takes care of the basketball, they can right the ship.

“There’s no greater expectation than our own. Myself, coaching staff, the players, you don’t play this level of basketball without expecting a lot out of yourself. Our greatest expectation is finding ways to get better every day,” Konkol said. “That’s the only thing we can control and it’s just improvement.

“We’ve been battling, we’ve been in every game and our guys are getting better. Sometimes that doesn’t show up in the end score, but with young players on this team they’re gaining some invaluable experience. We just want to keep building on that as the season progresses.”